Dilution apparatus using an aspirator, to dilute a liquid concentrate with a liquid diluent to form a use solution, have been used for many years. The first such systems were ad hoc. Loose assemblies of tubing, connections, aspirators, etc. The typical prior art diluting station comprises a large reservoir of concentrate, a source of diluent, typical service water, and a receiving container for the dilute use solution. Such a dilution apparatus is operated by passing service water or other aqueous stream through the aspirator containing a venturi. A venturi draws the liquid concentrate from the bulk into contact with the aqueous diluent stream, mixes the diluent and concentrate forming a use solution which is then transferred to a use solution container. The configuration of such a dilution apparatus has taken a large variety of embodiments. Large numbers of embodiments of concentrate containers, transfer mechanism, aspirator control means, use solution containers and various combinations of these elements have been attempted in the past.
In the past, the known prior art dilution systems have a hose or conduit at the end of the venturi for the dispensing of the use solution. This conduit is simply placed inside of the bottle or container to receive the use solution. When a plurality of dispensers are used, for a plurality of chemicals, there is no control or mechanism to prevent a first chemical being placed in a bottle which was designed and labeled for a second chemical.
Still further, when activating the dispenser, it is often necessary to place the conduit in the bottle and then, with the other hand, activate the dispenser. There are prior art dispensers which are activated by means of pressing the bottle backward in the same direction as is necessary to push the switch which activates the dispenser. However, it is often more convenient from a design point to have the activation button move in one direction and the movement of the bottle in another direction. However, under prior art devices, it is not possible to have the movement of the bottle in one direction activate the switch in another direction.
The dispenser disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,972 addresses the problems noted above with respect to the prior art and provides for a dispenser wherein a simple movement of the bottle in one direction into the diluting apparatus will activate a switch, which moves in a second direction, to begin the dispensing of the solution into the bottle. Such a dispensing apparatus utilized bottles that were filled with a tube from the dispenser. The tube typically went to the bottom of the bottle. However, such a dispenser is not satisfactory where the bottle includes a self-contained dip tube. In such instances, the tube from the dispenser would not fit into the bottle. In certain applications, where it is desired to use a bottle with a dip tube, there is presently no dispenser which adequately fills the bottle and performs the necessary lockout features to prevent the dispensing of the wrong chemical into a wrong bottle.
Accordingly, the present invention provides for a two-directional lockout feature on the bottle as well as another lockout feature to make certain that the correct chemical is dispensed into the proper bottle for subsequent use.